Safe as Houses

SKU:9781590211236

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by Alex JeffersWhen Allen Pasztory discovered he was likely to die before his time, he realized that what he could pass down to the people he loved was stories. Stories of and for his families–the family he was born to and the family he stumbled upon and fiercely embraced. The hearing child of parents raised in the inhumane surroundings of a state school for the deaf, all along Allen knew he and his family were different. His sister tried her best to become ordinary, as if it were possible, but Allen knew better. He would be ready to offer sanctuary when an ordinary family cast out his nephew Kit. Allen fell for freelance artist Jeremy’s talent and looks, but it was Jeremy’s unanticipated bravery that supported them through the years while they nurtured their new family. Despite hostility from without and threat from within, they created a secure and loving home for Jeremy’s precocious son Toby and, later, Allen’s nephew. But safety can’t be guaranteed. Ill, Allen must tell himself stories to survive, stories that may explain his life to the boys he’s raised, for “your life is never only your own story, and what you don’t know for sure you must invent, using all the clues you can gather.”Paperback, 320 pages

"There is emotional integrity to this story and despite the subject-matter the writing by-passes both cliche and melodrama providing for an honest and intimate reading experience whereby the reader is completely transported into the world of Allen and his family. While it is emotional and at times sobering it is neither heavy or depressing. At its core Safe As Houses is not about HIV/AIDS, but rather a poignant and life-affirming story of spouses, of parents and children, of fathers and sons, of family." - Indie Reviews